It was the bright light outside in the real world that woke him up. The little ball of light and dark had been sleeping to his heart's content. Happy that he was being carried away into dream land. he didn't expect anything to disturb such wonderous things. Yet something did. Vermilion eyes slowly opened, opening and closing to rid himself of the blurry vision. Strange sounds that sounded cheerful and bouncy caused him to rise to his little paws, carrying the chubby puppy near the opening of the den.

What was that strange sound? Not known yet to the pup, but he was hearing birds chirping near his little sanctuary. They chirped and called out to anyone that cared to hear, attempting to draw out the pup little by little. But Alric wasn't so sure about such trickery. No, he would look out from the safety of his lair. Ha! That would show them! Alric did a little toothy pup grin, tail wagging slightly as he sat there in the darkness of his den. And there he would wait for his followers to come to them, for he was greatness! And he would show them all just that! If only he actually had followers. Sorry little pup!

It seemed to come too soon, already their children were beginning to grow restless within the den, and Hexx would have been content to keep them there a little longer. But time was against them. And this was not the first; already Monty and RAIZEL had their wits about them and pressed the boundaries of the den for that of the outside world. Hexx made note to keep an even sharper eye on them than he had before. So he was not far from the maw; returning with a meal clasped tightly between dark jowls.

He arrived, the silent lumbering mass the father was, dark ears pivoting to find one of his sons already awake. It was Alric, sitting with baited breath at the dens opening contemplating his next move. Hexx placed the meal down before approaching him, he was half of each of them. Split right down the middle and he regarded the boy before rumbling ❝ Little man, ❞ he mused in plain greeting sweeping his nose down though he remained just outside, cold eyes moved to scan their surroundings briefly. ❝ You can come out ❞ he affirmed,

❝ speech ❞

Little man indeed. Alric was still contemplating whether or not to come out when his father arrived. The little ball of sunshine and darkness regarded him with a single minded determination, coming out of the den finally after Hexx had given the all clear. The smell of something new came to his nose, prompting the young wolf to seek it out. What on earth was this? He poked at the carcass with his dark nose, almost jumping in surprise at the different texture. Still needing to nurse from Mom, he wasn't quite ready for real meat just yet.

But that didn't stop him from wanting to explore it further. Alric remained quiet in his discovery for now, dark reddish orange eyes looked briefly up at his father to see what his reaction would be, then back down to the lump of flesh covered in hair that he had brought. Maybe his other siblings had seen such a thing before. He looked back to the den entrance for a moment, wondering if he should wake the others. Then instantly thought against it, happy to have his dad's attention all to himself. Yes, this was the way it should be. At least in this moment, on this day.

The den was much too small when it had been much too big on what felt like eons and eons ago, now. The blue rose had been asleep in the den that had become all too cramped with that of growing bodies, and in an environment that was becoming much too hot with all the growing bodies.

In addition, the sounds of the outside crept inside shattering whatever peace that there was between the world and Raizel. He woke with a grumble, his eyes fluttering open softly, watching as his father would come to place the meal down.

Little man, his father had called - to him? His twotoned sibling? Raizel tilted his head, hopping over - yes, hopping, like a bunny might, over to the meal brought, to give it a good sniff. Going so close to sniffing it, that he got a bit of blood on his nose. And then he looked up at his father.

And his brother, a brow risen. A glint in his eye. But he did nothing, merely watching.

For now..